


Adrift

by Aoki



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Jackanda, Miranda's dad is awful, New Cerberus still sucks, Nonbinary Jack, Other, Set on Omega, Swearing, Tagging as I go, let's be real, this is probably going to be a slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2019-10-02 16:34:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17267570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoki/pseuds/Aoki
Summary: The day after Shepard jumped into the crucible and destroyed the reapers, Miranda’s father found her. He was more furious that she’d ever seen him, now that the mass relays were temporarily down and his business ventures were suffering for it.He’d frozen her accounts, locked her up and tried every method he could to get her to tell him where Oriana was. Miranda escaped of course, but at great cost.She’d have to make do with only her wits and a dwindling reserve of credits. Now that Shepard was dead, Miranda didn’t fancy her chances with any of the other crew. Trusting too many people was exactly what had gotten her into this situation.





	1. Chapter 1

Miranda was sitting in the metal seat of an old cruiser she’d picked up off someone on the black market. Its only luxury was one large viewing window. She looked down, space stretching out all around her, countless planets and galaxies. She could almost imagine she was alone in the universe. A pleasant thought. It really was a beautiful sight.

It was so rare that she got to sit still and enjoy the moments like this. Escaping from her father the past year had kept almost all of her attention. The only thing she could do now was wait until she got to her destination.

An indicator on her console beeped. She closed her eyes flicked on the autopilot and fell asleep to the rhythmic humm of the drive core.

\---

The great asteroid loomed before her. Equally garbage spacecraft vied furiously for airspace. There were no formal rules for docking order on Omega. Miranda swooped in front of a looming box-like frigate and claimed one of the cheapest docking spaces. As the clamps connected, her whole ship shuddered ominously. Flakes of rust fluttered down like snow on Miranda’s head.

Sighing, she pulled a rough jumpsuit over her underclothes. It wouldn’t do to well to stand out in this place. Besides, her usual suit was torn. She’d dumped it unceremoniously on the floor the moment she’d bought the cruiser. God how she missed its temperature control . Repairing it would cost more than all the money she had on hand right now. She made do by bundling up her hair under a heavy hood and looping an equally thick scarf over her neck.

She punched the airlock open and immediately the smell of hot garbage and smoke flooded her craft. She longed for a helmet as she stomped over the threshold.

Miranda hated Omega. The criminals, the corruption, the whole atmosphere of the place. Although she’d never admit it to anyone else, her current predicament was especially outside of her comfort zone. She’d grown up accustomed to luxury. It was one of the reasons she’d joined Cerberus in the first place. She’d always taken her survival for granted. Before this past year, she’d never needed to think about her own money very much. But now, the one encrypted account her father overlooked was starting to run out.

Amongst the people of Omega, she blended in. The sooty streaks on her clothing camouflaged against the landscape and its inhabitants. The walkways from the docks were busy today. Aliens and humans were talking all at once. A quarian and a hanar were bartered over a container overflowing with scrap metal. Nobody paid her any attention.

Beneath the gentle roar of conversation, the diesel hum of ancient generators droned on. Smog leaked into the air and softened the edges of countless electronic signs. They openly advertised everything from red sand to prostitution. Miranda pulled a cloth over her mouth. This had better be worth it.

She had been tipped off to meet her contact in one of the smaller bars in Omega. He had a way of getting information on her father without tipping him off.

Turning down a side alley, Miranda descended a set of metal stairs. The handrail was slightly hot from a gust of steam issuing from a nearby vent. She continued further down until she was so deep in the asteroid that dust hung heavy and still in the air. At the end of the stairway was a single unmarked metal door. This had to be the place. She pulled on the handle and the door slid open with a rusty screech. Sure enough, she could spot a bartender and some tables through the gloom. She breathed a sigh of relief and did her best to compose herself. The bouncer eyed her menacingly, but said nothing as she strode in.

The room was barely larger than her little cruiser. In front of the bar itself, there were a few booths and a single standing table.

At the opposite end of the room, she saw a withered turian nursing a glass of something dark and thick. That had to be him. His name was Laetus and he looked just as dour as she’d been led to believe. A human with a leather jacket was sitting with him. Miranda’s mouth tightened.

She approached the table and caught a snatch of their conversation. “-- now what most interests me is why the alliance wants--” the turian looked up, catching Miranda’s eye.

The human turned around to face her as well. They had long dark hair done up in a ponytail with the sides shorn off and oh _fuck_. It was Jack. A little more weathered than she’d last seen her, but Jack nonetheless. Miranda thanked her lucky stars that she’d covered her face because Jack was the absolute last person she’d ever want to see her like this.

Miranda was completely off guard as the two of them looked up at her expectantly. She fumbled and disguised her voice as best as she could.

“I ‘eard you was the one to come to fer certain information?” Miranda winced inwardly, she’d somehow managed to mix several accents together. Badly.

Jack narrowed her eyes, but it looked like she hadn’t caught on.

The turian, unfamiliar with human dialects, was not perturbed. “Yes. I think I’m done with this alliance officer here. I don’t think I have anything to tell her.” He clicked his mandibles matter-of-factly.

The old Jack would have blown up, but the person in front of her simply laughed.

“Yeah you’re just covering because you don’t know shit.” Jack slapped her knees and stood up, taking her leave. She winked at Miranda, who was momentarily paralysed with a jolt of panic.

“Good luck with this one. He talks the big talk, but he’s not the brightest spark”

Miranda was lost for words as she watched Jack go. The information broker tapped the table irritably.

“I sure hope you have better manners than that one”. He bristled.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack couldn’t seem to get the stranger in the bar out of their head. There was something familiar about her voice and the way she walked. She reminded Jack of someone they knew once but couldn’t quite place. Since it was _Omega_ , the stranger probably was just from one of the gangs that Jack had run with or had run ins with.

Jack shrugged and loped back to their quarters on the _Endurance_ , a four-person cruiser that reminded them nostalgically of the Normandy. Jack flopped down on the bed and buried their face in the pillow. It smelled like generic alliance requisitioned starch and -- home.

Their Acting Commanding Officer, Alexis Tethryx buzzed in on the omnitool. Jack smashed the answer button and the flushed face of a blue Asari popped up. Alexis was a refugee who had been stranded on Earth after the Mass relays were damaged. She was a by-the-book high achiever who’d climbed the ranks damn fast but was alright once you got to know her. They’d become something close to friends.  

“Did you have any luck on the mission?”

“No” Jack grumbled into their pillow and rolled over. “The informant’s a dumb fuck who couldn’t tell a varren from a thresher maw.”

“Language Jack.”

Jack rolled their eyes. “How are the kids doing?”

“They’re fine. They’ll survive without you for two months. Goodness knows they’ve earned a break from your teaching style. Rodriguez was caught making a few smart comments”.

Jack smiled.

“They’re good kids Alexis. This mission sucks ass though.”

“It’s important. You know it’s important.”

“I’m not a fucking detective!”

Alexi sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. They’d had this conversation before. Jack didn’t really expect it to go any better this time.

“It’s just two months Jack. I’m confident you can do it.”

Jack grumbled at that. What Alexis really meant was that Jack was the only one the Alliance could spare with the rebuilding efforts going on, and the only one with underworld contacts.

“If you don’t find anything, we’ll call you in.” Alexi added with a sigh. “Did the informant give you _any_ information?”

“I said no.”

Alexis paused before responding. “I’ll check back with you tomorrow then.”

And then she was gone. Fuck Alexi. Fuck, Jack thought they had probably actually pissed her off this time. It was so hard to tell.

Jack turned over onto their side and followed the grooves cut into the door with their eyes. The ship was so quiet compared to the new Grissom Academy. They were used to there always being something: kids being much louder at poker than they thought they were, a teary O’Brien who Jack had no idea how to deal with.

Thinking of it, all the gender stuff had all started with O’Brien. They’d come out as agender the day they found out their family didn't make it. Jack never realised there were more than two options before.

It took a while, and several covert extranet searches, but Jack eventually concluded that they were nonbinary of some description. It felt right, just how everything back at Pragia, including the F on their adoption certificate, felt wrong.

Jack always suspected there was a reason behind their less conventional clothing choices. It just didn’t seem fair that Jack had to cover their chest when people like Gavel, that cunt of a cult leader from god-knows-how-long-ago, could go around bare-chested without anyone giving a fuck.

So Jack started wearing less clothes. At the start, it didn’t go down very well. In the end they started wearing a stupid titty strap just to shut people up a bit. The tattoos helped too.

Jack’s omnitool beeped again, breaking them out of their train of thought.

It was a very short list of leads the Alliance had so far.

Jack threw the omnitool across the room.

How the fuck were they supposed to find any information on _Miranda Lawson_?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one ;)
> 
> Jack's perspective uses they/them


	3. Chapter 3

Miranda gingerly sat down in front of the Turian.

“I was told you’d have viruses for breaking into secure systems. Without leaving a trace.” she said, dropping back to her normal voice.

He laughed, a harsh, short sound. “The real question is whether you can afford them.”

This bastard was definitely going to rip her off, but Miranda desperately needed to find out how close her father was to finding her. The agony of not knowing was killing her. At any moment, one of his goons could kidnap her and bring her back home again. Miranda wasn’t even sure if she’d make it out alive again.

“Oh I’ll pay. How much to break into this?”

She slid a datapad across the table with the basic schematics of the system. Laetus picked it up and scrolled through the details. After a moment, he sat up straighter, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

“30,000 credits” he said smugly.

“Bullshit.” Miranda spat.

“You’re the one trying to break into a top security system honey.” he eyed her with condescension.

“I can give you 15,000” Miranda held his gaze.

“25,000” he said.

Miranda bit her lip. She didn’t have that much in her account. She hesitated for a moment.

“How about 15,000 and this?”

Miranda took off her bracelet. It was a birthday gift from Oriana, and more importantly, made out of solid platinum. No time to be sentimental.

“Deal.”

They shook on it.

He fished out a box containing a small hunk of silicon and wire.

“Use this on a clean machine.”

Miranda snatched it and transferred the credits from her omnitool, trying not to look at the number remaining.

“Pleasure doing business with you” he drawled.

Miranda nodded curtly and took this as her cue to leave.

\---

She spent a few more of her credits on a stolen laptop and a room at an inn without a written address.

The room itself had whitewash walls with suspicious stains and a forlorn metal bed in the corner. Miranda took one look at the sheets and decided to sit on the floor. It was cold emotionless concrete. Miranda sighed and pulled out the laptop. It ticked softly as she booted it up.

Shoving in the key, she wondered what she’d find. There was no real point in waiting. She brought up her father’s extranet number. Every moment spent was a moment he could be getting closer. With barely a moment’s hesitation, she executed the virus.

Her eyes widened as she skimmed the files being downloaded off his network. There were an awful lot of files on her. A number of files containing the word Heracles also flashed over the screen regularly. Miranda closed her eyes.

‘What is he up to?’ she thought.

The moment the download finished, she transferred a copy to her omnitool and held down the power button of the laptop. The screen winked out to black.

She walked out of the inn and looked around. She was on a relatively small platform surrounded by two suspended walkways leading out into the smog. Below, an old mining drill sat dead and silent, half upturned. Old work lights running off ancient nuclear cores cast a sickly light. In the distance, an enormous turbine spun slowly.

She looked again to the machinery below. That would have to do. Miranda pocketed the precious virus chip and raised the laptop above her head.

Putting as much biotic force behind her as she could, Miranda hurled the laptop at the ground below. The laptop shattered as it hit the drill head, leaving a small cloud of silicon dust. Miranda exhaled a sigh of relief.

Upon returning to the inn, Miranda paused to buy an instant meal from the vending machine by the front desk: ‘Earth-Style Spinach and Mushroom Risotto’. She pulled off the ring tab as she walked down the hall and it grew warm in her hands. Miranda opened the door to her room and sat down with her back to the wall.

Just to be safe, Miranda pulled up a virtual operating system on her omnitool and started trawling through the files. She took a mouthful of the risotto. It was terrible. Miranda wished she at least had wine to wash it down with. It was going to be a long night.

\---

At three in the morning, Miranda’s eyes were half closed and bloodshot. She hadn’t yet come across anything useful. Then she found it.

Indisputable proof that Henry Lawson knew Miranda was on Omega.

It was a video of Miranda exiting her ship at the Omega dock. Miranda swore under her breath. It was barely three seconds long, but her face and ship were clear enough to be recognisable. She’d been so stupid to let her guard down for even a second. The video had the Kuwashii logo watermarked in the bottom left hand corner. It was obviously hacked from the Kuwashii targeting visors currently popular amongst the mercenaries of Omega. Now he knew her ship as well. She wouldn’t be able to go back to it.

Miranda held her head in her hands. Her credits were running out fast. She needed some form of income desperately. Maybe she could get into mercenary work, goodness knows she had enough experience for it.

But first she had to do something about her appearance. Even covered in baggy work clothes, she was still too recognisable.

Shit, she’d need to ditch her current clothes as well. Miranda started to shake.

Last time, he’d almost succeeded in getting her to tell him where Oriana was. He’d put a dozen trackers under her skin that she had to take out with a scalpel to escape. Next time she was sure they’d be filled with poison.

  
Miranda switched on her omnitool’s blade.

  
The scary thing was that maybe he already knew where Oriana was. Maybe he already had Oriana. Maybe he was just seeing if she’d break.

  
Miranda grabbed a handful of her hair and ran the blade of the omnitool across it. Midnight black locks fell to the floor.

  
She’d have to become unrecognisable, even to herself. Tomorrow, she was going to _really_ do something about her appearance.


	4. Chapter 4

The air sizzled with the smells of several dozen culinary traditions. Wheeled stalls crowded the walkway haphazardly, each vendor trying to out-shout their neighbour. 

“Fresh Zaberries! Get your fresh zaberries! Sauteed with only the finest mucus!”

Jack pulled a face and pushed through a throng of people lining up for fried pyjak. It’d been a week and Jack still hasn’t found anything useful about their least favourite cheerleader. The only thing they’d found is that  _ Daddy  _ was working with what was left of Cerberus, which even Jack could have guessed already. 

On one stall, carcassess of what looked like rats hung on a rack. They swung in time to the many footsteps.

“Cured meats straight from Palaven! Grab some for the road!” 

The last time Jack had seen Miranda was at that party in Anderson's apartment. It'd been one hell of a night. Miranda had been much less of an icy bitch than usual, and the two of them had a couple of half-decent conversations. It was hard to remember very clearly, they'd both had a shit-tonne of drinks, but Jack thought something positive had sparked between them. 

Maybe not so for Miranda, since she fucked off who-knows-where before anyone awoke. She was seen by a few people at the final battle on Earth, but after that, it was as if she'd been vaporised. The only reason they knew Miranda was alive at all was because of her father.

He’d filed a police report for a stolen skycar. Jack saw the video evidence, but something about it was  _ off _ . In the video, Miranda ran into Henry Lawson’s private garage and promptly ripped off the door of the nearest car with biotic force. She jumped in and then accelerated, punching a hole through the closed garage door.

It wasn’t Miranda’s style.

Miranda had always projected calm and control, even when they’d been facing the collector base. She was never reckless. She always made everything look so effortless. It was one of the things Jack hated the most about her.

This was messy. Unprofessional. Desperate. Until the DNA evidence came through from the local police, Jack wasn’t sure it had been Miranda at all. They'd found the wreck, charred and broken, in a ditch 100 klicks away.

If Shepard was alive she'd definitely know what was up. Jack sighed and looked among the masses of people. 

The only reason the Alliance cared about Miranda at all was that a new group called  _ Heracles _ was starting to gather supporters.They were calling Shepard’s sacrifice proof of humanity’s superiority. Cunts. Most of them were the worst of what remained of Cerberus. Jack was ready to go firebomb their houses, but Alexis had advised caution. 

Alexis and her superiors thought Miranda could help-- if she wasn’t with  _ Heracles _ . At the very least, they wanted to know where Miranda stood in all of this, given she was ex-Cerberus herself. 

Jack didn't know how they felt about the matter. In the old days, Miranda got under Jack’s skin more than anyone else they’d met since they were a kid. She always knew the worst thing to say. That she'd disappeared without a word after the party showed that her feelings hadn't changed much towards Jack. Jack was stupid if they expected anything less. Fuck Miranda anyway.

Eventually Jack agreed to the mission because they had to do something about  _ Heracles,  _ even if it meant seeking out old enemies in the garbage dump of the galaxy. Maybe after the two months were done, Alexis would finally let Jack fuck some of them up. 

So far, Jack constantly felt like punching something but had fucked up a disappointingly small number of people. Two more of the informants on the Alliance list didn’t know shit and the third had tried to cop a feel. It hadn’t ended very well for him.

With how straight-laced Alexis was, she’d probably only searched ‘information broker’ on the extranet and given Jack the list. It was time to start using their own connections. Jack passed a stand of brightly coloured vials and glanced at clouds of strawberry scented smoke around the vendor’s head. That or get wasted for the next two months. 

Jack yawned as they turned a corner and nearly walked head-first into a group of young mercenaries. Most of them hadn’t seen much action by the looks of it, not a scar between them.

The mercenaries didn’t even notice Jack. The tallest one was gesturing wildly. “Man, I really want to get one of those visors. Y’know, the aim targeting ones. I reckon I’d look badass.”

A short salarian beside him sniggered. “I dunno, your aim’s pretty shit though. I don’t think it’d help.” 

“But I’d look cool right? Plus maybe I could make some money with it on the side. I heard one of the Eclipse sold a two second video for more than I make in a year!” 

Jack scoffed. A sale that big must have gone through the shadow broker. It seemed doubtful that these little fish would be playing with the sharks anytime soon. 

The mercenaries strode past Jack, who felt a new idea taking form. 

Jack had only ever had the slimmest of dealings with the shadow broker. Although, maybe going to them for intel was worth a shot if the Alliance were willing to foot the bill. Assuming the shadow broker wasn’t dead of course. 

Getting in contact with the shadow broker wasn’t going to be easy. Hell, getting in contact with  _ anyone  _ from the old days wasn't going to be easy. A few years ago, Jack had been able to spot at least one person they knew in the average Omega crowd. Five if it was a bar. But the faces weren’t as familiar anymore. A fair few of them were probably dead. 

Jack stopped to buy some skewered meat. It was almost night, or what passed for night on Omega. 

The one thing they did know was that there was somewhere they were almost certain to find a shadow broker agent. And if not, they could have a little fun.

It was time to visit  _ Afterlife _ . 

\---

The lower floors stunk of smoke, sweat and countless substances banned almost everywhere else in the galaxy. Lights, hazy through the smoke, caught the edges of dancing patrons; their inhibitions long since been burned away by whiskey. 

Ah  _ Afterlife.  _ Something deep down inside Jack missed this. Here, you could forget the world for a night. 

Like a moth to a flame, Jack found themself drawn to the bar. They ordered an Aether Bomb. Fuck Alexis and her budget.

The drink was stronger than they remembered after so much of the watered down piss the Alliance called alcohol. Jack settled down into a couch.  _ Alexis definitely wouldn't approve _ , they thought with a smirk. 

The last time they were here, they drank so much they could barely remember their own name and woke up the next morning in a bed with two asari and a salarian. With the past week they’d had, Jack wouldn't mind getting a little wasted. There had to be some perks to being posted here. 

Before Jack knew it, they’d finished their drink and had another one in hand. They swayed slightly on the way back to the couch. A pleasant hum was working its way up the base of their skull.

The music was starting to get good. Maybe they'd join the dance floor after this drink. 

Jack arrived back at their couch and found it occupied. A couple were making out passionately. 

“Fuck off! I was here first!”

The couple either didn't hear or didn't care. 

Jack was considering whether to take further action when they caught a flurry of movement out of the corner of their eye. Distracted, Jack turned around. 

There was someone who definitely didn’t belong here. A human woman, with a hood pulled far down over her face, standing almost frozen in the corner. She was far too sober. 

It took several moments to realise she was also trying to avoid looking at Jack. Shit. 

Jack, only again remembering their original purpose, approached the stranger. Her hands skittered across an empty wine glass, but she stayed put.

“Hey” was all Jack could muster. 

Close up, Jack could see lines of neon blue paint swirling over the stranger's skin, making it difficult to discern the shape of her face. It was actually quite beautiful.

Never one to waste words, Jack said what was on their mind. 

“Ssay are you a shadow broker agent?”

The woman nearly dropped her glass in surprise. A blush spread down her cheeks, colouring the paint bright pink. She shook her head vigorously.

“Well, uh” Jack swayed for a moment, trying to decipher the woman's reaction. 

She reminded Jack of someone, although they couldn't place who.

Almost involuntarily, Jack asked, “can I buy you a drink?”

The woman licked her lips and then looked straight at Jack. Underneath the hood her eyes were sealed under reflective lenses. She paused for what seemed like an eternity. 

Apparently seeing what she needed to see, the stranger nodded and took a seat at the nearest bar table. Waiting. 

Well ok then. Jack fetched a glass of red wine from the bar and set it in front of the stranger. 

“I'm Jack. I know I look a bit like a chick to most people, but use they-them pronouns for me ok?” They sat back down a bit too heavily. The wine glass shook dangerously.

“Alright.” The woman's hands shot out to steady the glass. 

“And your name is?”

The stranger paused for a moment. “Mirage.” Her voice sounded accented through Jack’s translator. Not an English speaker then.

Jack watched her hands as she delicately raised the glass to her lips.

Mirage smiled softly. “You have good taste in wine.” 

“You looked like a fancy lady” Jack leaned back, grinning. 

“Is it that obvious?” 

“Well…” Jack looked Mirage up and down. On the surface, she looked like an Omega native. She was wearing a large, slightly grimy, dark coat and a protective skinsuit with padding over the knee. Even the hood was relatively inconspicuous. But Jack knew Omega. 

“Looks like you learnt to sit by being tied a chair. That or they stuck a pole up your ass and left it there until puberty. Kids around here have more important things to learn.”

Jack glanced at Mirage's empty glasses. 

“That and they don't drink  _ wine _ ”

Mirage snorted. “You caught me.”

“My upbringing was —“ she looked wistfully out over the dance floor “— not a typical one”.

“So you were raised by assholes?

“That's one way to put it.” 

“You should pay them back sometime. Screw them up a bit. Maybe bomb their planet.” Jack grinned. 

Mirage laughed. “I'm working on it.”

The two sat amicably for a moment while Jack finished their drink. 

“I’m hoping to find some mercenary work first. You don't know anyone looking to hire do you?”

“Apart from the gangs, not really — and I'd be careful with them. They aren’t the type to let you come and go.”

“You  _ think? _ ” Mirage tossed her head.

The action stirred up strong and confusing feelings in Jack's stomach. They  _ knew  _ someone else who did that too. Someone very attractive. 

“It's not as if I'm going to do an Archangel either, all I want is a few odd jobs” Mirage continued. 

“You know I actually knew Archangel. I was on the Normandy SR2”

Mirage stifled a smile.

“It’s true! I also knew Shepard. I owe a lot to that woman. Personally you know, not just the general saving us all from the reapers shit.”

“I'm still not sure I believe you.” Mirage's voice was coy.

Jack smirked at her and got up to get another drink. The floor lurched beneath them. 

Mirage stood up as well and held Jack’s arm to steady them. “Let me. How about you find us a couch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, I wonder who Mirage is? ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading along so far!


	5. Chapter 5

Miranda sat down far too close to Jack.This whole situation was a terrible idea. One tiny slip up could be fatal.

“So are both of those for you, or… ?”

Shit. She was still holding their drinks.

Jack smiled and took theirs, and for one fleeting moment, their hands touched.

“Cheers!”

_“Pas de problème.”_

Miranda had been speaking French all night just so that Jack wouldn't hear her real voice. She wondered how long she could keep it up with her current alcohol intake.

Jack grinned and leaned back.

“You know, you didn’t really strike me as the sort to do mercenary work.”

_“The sort? I'm perfectly capable of--_

Jack raised their hands and smirked slyly, which did strange things to Miranda's stomach.

“I just meant you seemed the sort to prefer to call the shots.” Jack said.

Miranda looked away. The bartender was currently in the midst of an argument with an angry customer.

_“Right now I’ll take anything I can get.”_ Miranda stared at the deep amber liquid in her glass.

“Well, let’s drink to anything you can get.” Jack winked. 

_“Sure.”_ Miranda smiled.

They clinked their glasses together. Miranda’s drink was pleasantly spicy. In her current state, she could only process the taste as something like liquid sunlight, maybe with a hint cinnamon? It made her feel all warm and fuzzy.

It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced at all on Omega.

This new Jack certainly did look more sure of themselves. More together. Like they were comfortable in their skin; someone past the defensive and hot tempered whirlwind Miranda had known before. Miranda snuck a look at Jack’s exposed collarbone. Despite the variety new scars, they seemed to be doing just fine. 

Unlike Miranda, who was a disaster on a good day lately. Oh how the tables have turned.

She caught a few lyrics floating over the music.

_“Find me a place where we can just go back, go back”._

The loud beat throbbed through her chest and she couldn’t help but follow the ever escalating melody. She usually hated this kind of music. After a pause, the beat dropped and the dancers went haywire. The music crashed right through Miranda’s brain. Suddenly, she could see some of the appeal.

From a distance, she saw a few couples dancing obscenely closely. A sudden, very intrusive thought popped into Miranda’s head and her face went very hot.

Jack looked towards the dancers amicably. Their eyes followed gyrating hips with barely disguised interest. They were also, evidently, not completely straight. Ultraviolet light flashed over Jack’s skin and briefly reveal silvery new tattoos. Miranda itched to examine them closer.

Miranda shifted in her seat. She really should go before Jack joined the dots. She took another sip of her drink, but it proved rather counter-productive. Miranda tore her eyes away from Jack and stared at her hands instead. This really was not the time. Thank fuck her face was under all this paint.

She had to do something to bring herself back to reality.

_“Why are you here on Omega?”_  Miranda blurted out.

“Looking for someone I probably won’t find.”

Miranda wondered who Jack of all people, would want to find on Omega. She felt her eyes drawn back to the dancefloor. One of the Asari on stage was particularly entrancing.

“That and the street food here. There’s nowhere else in the galaxy that even comes close..” Jack continued.

Miranda hiccuped and put a hand to her mouth. It was stupid. there was every chance that Jack would recognise her at any moment, and then her cover would be blown. Jack would say her name and a camera or a passerby or Jack themself would relay the information to her father. Goodness knows he paid well.

It was a miracle Jack hadn’t recognised her yet.

_“I’m surprised there’s any good food here at all.”_

Miranda recalled a particularly dismal meal a few nights ago consisting of watered down vegetable stock and a few chewy penne pasta pieces. It barely passed as food, the ingredients were so far removed from their source so as to be abstract concepts rather than anything substantial.

“I'll show you around sometime?”

Miranda’s heart skipped a few beats. She should really decline.

She shifted slowly, deliberately, closer to Jack. She could feel their breath catching. She watched Jack’s body language carefully.

But she was having such a good time.

_“I’d like that.”_

Jack smiled and held their arm aloft, their face a question. Miranda nodded and felt Jack’s arm enclose over her shoulder. She felt so fluttery.This was probably the first time she’d been touched kindly by a human since Shepard died. How depressing.

Miranda relaxed into Jack and closed her eyes momentarily. She felt so warm and so sad. Jack smelled like old leather and spiced rum. She could almost pretend that they were back on the Normandy and nothing had gone to shit yet. She’d never have believed back then that this is where she’d be now. It was almost thrilling to be in the arms of someone she used to hate so much. She could feel Jack’s ribs brush her side with every breath and savoured the feeling.

“You ok?” Jack asked.

_“Yeah”_

She didn't know what to do with her hands.

Jack’s hand found hers.

_“You’re pretty hot for a washed up war hero.”_ Miranda couldn’t help herself at this point

Jack shifted and leaned forward, pausing so that their faces were barely centimetres apart. Miranda looked at the lips that had spit such slights at her a lifetime ago.

“You know it”.

Miranda inhaled. The air between them felt warm, intimate.

This was a terrible idea. Miranda closed the distance.

Jack’s lips were surprisingly tender. Not at all like the hard, unyielding force she expected. She felt Jack’s other arm rest over her other shoulder.

Miranda's hand found the small of Jack’s back and she tugged Jack closer. Jack made a noise in the back of their throat and returned the kiss passionately. Jack’s body was surprisingly soft, and _fuck_ Miranda wanted to _devour_ them whole.

They broke for air; Jack’s brown eyes twin furnaces burning into Miranda’s very being. The feeling went straight to her groin. If she looked closely, she could see little flecks of amber. Jack smiled crookedly.

‘Fuck it’ Miranda thought and lunged forward, eliciting a gasp from Jack as their lips connected. She felt Jack straighten up and dig their fingers into Miranda’s back.

Miranda shifted as close as she could to Jack. She could feel Jack’s breaths battering her own ribcage. Jack pressed themselves onto Miranda, their mouth fighting frantically against hers. Their tongues briefly touched and Miranda moaned into the connection.

She felt Jack smirk against her lips. Their hands began to explore Miranda’s sides and Miranda broke off to gasp. Her hood had fallen back sometime amidst the exchange.

“You doing ok?” Jack murmured into Miranda’s ear. Their breath tingled and sent shivers down Miranda’s spine.

“Oh _fuck yes”_. Miranda didn’t even notice that she’d switched back to English.

Jack smiled and traced their nose over Miranda’s neck delicately, before planting a kiss right next to her carotid artery. Miranda shivered into Jack. Another smirk, this time warm against her neck.

Miranda’s hands ventured down Jack’s back, pausing at the top of their pants. Jack sucked gently against Miranda’s neck, testing. A tingle went up Miranda’s spine, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft little ‘oh!’.

“Are you ok with marks?” Jack asked.

“Yes!”

Jack responded by descending on Miranda’s neck with enthusiasm, sucking and gradually applying more teeth. Miranda felt as if Jack was also sucking the thoughts right out of her brain, she could barely string two words together. Jack broke off and Miranda swayed, giddy. Her neck smarted with something just below pain.

As the fog in her mind cleared, Miranda responded by leaning towards Jack, contemplating  her next move. She gently kissed in the sweet spot she knew many people had just behind the earlobe and felt Jack melt beneath her. She’d give almost anything to prolong this moment.

They continued for a while longer, until they both came to a natural state of rest, Miranda’s head leaning on Jack’s chest. She could hear their heartbeat. She felt so _safe_.

“That was so nice”. Miranda hummed.

Jack smiled, but there was a flicker of something unreadable in their eyes. Miranda realised too late she’d used her regular voice. A stone had just dropped into her stomach.

The look passed over Jack’s face as briefly as it came and they stretched.

“I had a good time”. Jack smirked. “Maybe I could take you out for that lunch sometime?”

Miranda’s heart was beating nearly half out of her chest. She went with the stupid response.

“Sure”.

They exchanged omnitool links, Miranda giving only her most encrypted channel, and eventually it was time to head home.

As the alcohol cleared from Miranda’s system on the walk back to her hostel, the anxiety of how risky she’d been grew. But her hands kept reaching her lips, feeling the phantom tingle of Jack’s on hers. She’d bare the consequences of her actions later. The joy of the night was still too sweet in her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay on this one! I've been super busy with other projects! To be honest, I'm not too sure when the next update will be, but thanks for reading along so far! :)


	6. Chapter 6

“How about that lunch? :) when would be a good time?”

The soot of Omega felt thicker than usual and the wan rays of Sahrabarik struggled through the smog. Fists deep in their pockets, Jack kicked a bit of trash on the pavement. It’d been three days and Mirage still hasn’t responded.

At least they’d finally tracked down someone fucking familiar on this goddamn rock. They reached a rusted steel door and rapped on it as loudly as they could. The sound crashed into Jack’s ears. 

Five seconds passed. 

Jack kicked the door. 

“Ok, calm your tits.” a muffled voice shouted back and Jack heard footsteps. 

A peep hole at slid open and Jack saw two squinting eyes. 

“For fuck’s sake”. The peep hole promptly slammed shut. 

“Phineas if you don’t open up I’ll break down the door” Jack yelled. “You know I’ll fucking do it!”

Biotic energy crackled around Jack’s fists. They slammed a punch into the metal and it bent like taffy. 

“I’m waiting!”

“Fine! I’ll open up. Jesus fucking Christ!”

Jack heard a number of locks being undone. They tapped their foot on the pavement. 

The door swung open and Jack sized-up Phineas. He was now a very disgruntled man, probably in his early forties. His hair had grown long since Jack knew him in their cultist days and he was wearing a fluffy red bathrobe. He also happened to have a M-300 Claymore trained on Jack’s chest. 

Jack threw up a biotic shield instinctively. 

“Ok, I opened the door. The fuck you want, Jack?”

“I need to get in contact with the shadow broker”. 

Phineas laughed. “Do I look like an information broker?” he jostles the shotgun menacingly. “Why the fuck should I help you? You left me for dead ten years ago.” 

Jack sighs and raises their hands up. 

“Oh, and I’m doing _great_ by the way, thanks for asking” he continues. 

“I knew you’d be fine Phineas. Stop being such a baby”. 

“Baby?” Phineas brandishes his left arm, skin twisted with burn scars. “I couldn’t use this hand for six months!” 

“Please, I got worse scars than that in kindergarten.” 

“Fuck off.”

“You’re alive aren’t you?” Jack tilted their head. “Better off than Gavel”. 

“I’m _not_ about to let you kill me too. Fuck off or I pull the trigger.”

“Come on, Phineas, we both know you’re not really going to --”

Jack’s words were broken by the sound of Phineas firing the shotgun. Jack’s biotic shield snapped with a sound like breaking glass and the pellets clattered to the floor. 

Jack doubled over, breathless, and raised their biotic shield again. 

“Shit” Phineas said, dropping the shotgun. He drew a pistol from somewhere within his robes and promptly shot Jack in the leg. 

Jack howled as the bullet connected. Warp ammo. The motherfucker.

With a growl, Jack slammed Phineas to the floor with a wave of their hand. They hobbled over slowly, grabbed the shotgun, and pressed it to his temple.

“So far, Phineas, my week has been pretty shitty. How about you tell me what you know and I’ll let you live another day.”

Phineas thrashed for a moment before falling still. “Fine.”

“All I know is this guy, Xen Larek, he’s a volus. He doesn’t look like the agent type, but he’s real good at not being noticed. You gotta go all the way to the Zeta district and find his meetup point. I’ll even mark it on your omnitool for you”’

Jack pressed the shotgun down a fraction harder “Is that all you know?”

“Yes! Now let me go!”

Jack withdrew the shotgun and rolled their eyes. 

“Nice catching up” They limped out of the doorway.

“Don’t ever come back here again!” Phineas yelled from the floor. 

 

\---

 

Leg supported by several mech parts and a curved piece of elastisteel; Jack clambered into the skycar. The prosthetic attached to their upper thigh and held their leg in place by a modified biotic field. The steel curved under the heel of Jack’s foot, supporting most of their weight. They’d bought it off a junkyard vendor who built it on the spot. Alarmingly, the vendor cheerfully mentioned he did this sort of thing all the time. 

“You’ll be surprised how often people get shot around here. It’s very good for business.”

Jack entered the coordinates into the skycar’s navigation system. It hummed to life. It was going to be a good few minutes before arrival. Jack slapped another patch of pain-blockers to their leg. Hopefully the shadow broker agent would be more cooperative than _fucking Phineas._

The Zeta district was a relatively new district set out on the smooth mushroom-head of Omega. Several years ago a group tried to terraform the unexcavated rock, but went bust before the project could be fully realised. During the war, the Zeta district was one of the first Cerberus invaded, and never quite recovered. Only the destitute lived there. 

Jack watched it come into focus. From above, it looked like a collection of rusted buildings and sand under a fragile bubble of atmosphere. It was smaller than Jack imagined. Debris formed peaks at the edge of the district like sand piled against a glass window. The skycar vibrated as it passed through the surrounding mass effect field. 

The skycar lowered to the ground and Jack exited, blinking through the bright sunlight. They breathed in and coughed. The air was thin and dry. A group of elderly women gave Jack strange looks. They were all dressed with cowls over their faces and long, ragged clothing. The light of Sahabaric bit harder here. Judging by the mix of people on the streets It looked like only turians went without some form of sun protection. 

They could hear the distant sound of kids playing. Jack checked the navpoint and ventured forward. From up close, the buildings looked half finished. Naked structure beams poked upwards like rotted teeth and dry weeds sprouted from cracks in the masonry. Jack’s footsteps crunched in the dust. Several buildings had faded hanging fabrics to make up for missing walls. A few were marred by blast marks. Sand gathered in corners and piled on flat surfaces like snow. A quirk of the artificial gravity caused it to stick to nearly everything. 

Jack could spot several addicts slumped against shady walls, eyes staring up into nothingness; tethered to reality by fraying threads.

Jack was just passing the skeleton of a rusting mech when their navigator beeped. This was the place.  
It was an old shack, barely a building, with metal sheeting scabbed over by rust. They heard the informant before they saw him. A telltale pneumatic hiss and squeaking rubber. The volus stepped forward. His pressure suit peeked through layers of torn fabric.

“Welcome Jack. You’re late.” he wheezed.

How do you--?

“You’re not very subtle. Especially when Phineas had your - he tastes the word - disagreement. We have our sources.” he said curtly. 

He turned on the spot and motioned for Jack to follow. The back room of the shack was dim, but empty. Light pricked through holes in the sheeting. 

“I’ll cut the crap. I am Xen Larek and I have a lot more to do today.” he said frankly, sliding back a metal cover on the wall.“In a manner of speaking, the shadow broker wishes to meet you in person. I don’t know why and I don’t care. If you’ll be kind enough to thumbprint this sensor, we can both get on with our days.”

How do I know you’re not just one of Phineas’s mates?

Xen scoffed. “I am a _professional”._

The volus stepped to the side, watching. After a moment, Jack hesitantly pressed their thumb to the sensor. 

In an instant, the ground beneath their feet descended, spraying sand everywhere. Jack looked up and watched a rapidly shrinking Xen walk away. Blue light flickered to life beneath Jack’s feet, dulled by the layers of sand. The light above disappeared.

Jack looked around, breathing quickly and reached out. The walls skimmed under their fingertips. Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for a slow update. Probably going to continue being slow to update because of life reasons. I'm planning to re-write some of what I have after this chapter, since I'm not super happy with it. I want it to be wonderful for you guys!


End file.
